Weekly troubleshooting utilities update

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac troubleshooting utilities that have been released in the past week, including file recovery and management software, along with a display management tool.

Our utilities update report is a list of updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were only a few updates to troubleshooting utilities for OS X.

The first is Disk Drill, which is a tool that can be used to recover data that has been accidentally deleted or otherwise lost. Disk Drill is a free utility while it is in development, and it has recently been updated to fix problems with its "Recovery Vault" daemon service, as well as a number of small performance issues. In addition the program has a few new explanations for procedures, which should help users determine if they want to run them on their files.

Display Maestro is the second utility updated. It's a hardware management tool for configuring displays attached to Macs. While OS X contains a number of standard display settings (resolution and refresh rates), there may be times when custom resolutions, colors, and timings might be needed. Display Maestro interfaces with the graphics drivers to implement these features. The latest update is a maintenance release that updates the program's core class usages. Display Maestro is $4.95 after the free trial.

The last utility is not a direct troubleshooting or configuration tool, but has a number of features that might help users. Path Finder is a full Finder replacement program that offers more control of files than what the Finder offers by default, allowing you to view and change numerous file attributes, view invisible files, and otherwise manage the file system. The latest release adds some performance enhancements along with fixing problems with preview refreshes and folder expansion in list view. Path Finder is a $39.95 utility, but like most others has a free trial period.